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Sunday 21 Feb 2016 - 13:15 Makkah mean time-12-5-1437
Great Mosque of Brussels. Image from islamicmosque.wordpress
Brussels, (IINA) - The Belgian Federal Government has set aside a multi-million euro fund to work alongside the Muslim executive on a project aimed “to help stimulate a moderate European form of Islam”, Breitbart online news reported.
The government has earmarked €3.3 million to be able to pay the wages of 80 new Imams, reports Flemish daily newspaper De Standaard. The move was announced in the light of applications filed in recent months by mosques seeking official state recognition.
Justice Minister Koen Geens said official recognition of mosques forms “part of our strategy to promote a more integrated form of Islam.”
“A recognized mosque is a sign of an integrated Islam. In the fight against radicalization, it is important that young people don’t drift into the arms of radical mosques. This also provides us with more interlocutors.”
Mosques that receive official approval are given public funding to pay the wages of Imams and other pastoral staff. In order to qualify for money from the federal justice department the mosques and their staff are scrutinized by the Belgian State Security Service to ascertain whether their version of Islam is deemed to be acceptable. Other input comes from the local municipality and state.
Very few new mosques were granted recognition in recent years, especially in Flanders. Until recently, only 30 had been certified, but there are now almost 50 mosques in the Flemish region with pending recognition requests.
SM/IINA
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